Who says that birthday party games are for kids? Certainly not us—we love a good game of charades as much as the next person.
Games are a brilliant way to break the ice, dial up the mood and get everyone mingling. But which games should you play at your party? We know that there’s a lot of options out there, from much-loved classics like limbo to more modern options, like the app-based guessing game Heads Up.
Here’s some of our favourite crowd-pleasing ideas that’ll help kick your celebration into gear.
Contents
Classic birthday party games
More involved birthday party games
Outdoor birthday party games
Classic birthday party games
1. Musical chairs
Yes, technically, this is a children’s game. But it is also very fun to play as an adult. The rules are the same for us grown-ups: set up chairs in a circle that are facing outwards, with one chair less than the amount of players. Then, pop on a tune and have everyone dance around the circle. When the music stops, players needs to scramble to grab one of the remaining seats. If you don’t nab one, you’re out. Remove a chair each round until you’ve crowned a winner.
2. Limbo
How low can you go? Limbo hails from Trinidad and Tobago, and it’s been described as both a dance and a game. In either case, the rules are the same: bend backwards to get yourself under a bar—a long broom held by two people at either end will do—without touching it. If you touch it with any part of your body, you’re out. The bar gets progressively lower each round until there’s just one person left standing.
3. Pictionary
Pictionary is perhaps the ultimate crowd-pleasing game. You’ll need large sheets of paper or a whiteboard to play. The game is very simple: one person is given a word they have to illustrate, and the others have to guess the word within 60 seconds. You can play it in teams or as individuals. Whoever guesses the most words correctly wins.
4. Charades
Is there anyone among us who has never played charades? It’s the classic guessing game, where one person stands up and has to act out a word or phrase silently. Usually, they act out the name of books, movies or TV shows. People shout out their guesses and whoever guesses right first has to go up next and take their turn.
5. Freeze!
This is similar to musical chairs only instead of scrambling for a seat, players have to freeze in place when the music stops. It sounds super simple but trust us, it can be hilarious—especially if you choose music that encourages your guests to throw some shapes.
6. Truth or dare
In this game, players are asked a question that they can choose to answer truthfully or complete a dare instead. Many people like to come up with the questions and dares on the fly, but if you prefer to be prepared, you can download apps or sets of questions and suggested dares.
7. Two truths and a lie
Two truths and a lie is a brilliant icebreaker game that you could play over dinner. As the name suggests, everyone has to offer three facts about themselves—two of which are true and one of which is a lie. The rest of the players need to guess the lie.
8. Never have I ever
Another great icebreaker. It’s low effort and quick, and can be played by anyone. Everyone holds up one (or two) hands with all their fingers out. Then, players take turns sharing a statement that starts with, “Never have I ever…” (for example: “Never have I ever missed a flight”). If someone has done that thing, they need to put a finger down. The final player left standing is the winner.
9. Pin the tail on the…
Traditionally, the game is to wear a blindfold and try to pin a tail onto the correct place on a picture of a donkey. But you can spice this up however you want: you could pin the glasses on Elton John, the famous lightning bolt onto David Bowie, the sandwich into Paddington Bear’s hands…we could go on.
10. Cereal box game
A bona fide British classic. This is a popular Christmas game, but if you want to play it on your birthday then go right ahead. Rip one panel off a cardboard cereal box and put it on the ground. Have your guests form a circle around it and take it in turns to pick it up—without using their hands. After each person takes their turn, rip a small piece of the box off so that it gets smaller and smaller. If you touch the ground with anything other than your feet, or the cardboard with your hands, you’re out.
11. Jenga
Jenga is a great game to play with a group because it’s super simple and anyone can get involved. Build up a tower of Jenga blocks and take turns removing them without toppling the lot. It’s tense and exciting, and a lot of fun. You can also get giant Jenga blocks to play with outside if you’re so inclined.
12. Cards Against Humanity
For smaller groups. This hugely popular game prompts players to use the phrases on the cards they’re dealt to fill in the blank space in a sentence provided. Whoever has the best (usually, the funniest) answer wins that round and scores a point. The person with the most points at the end wins. Cards Against Humanity is known for its risqué content, so depending on your guestlist, this may be either perfect or inappropriate. However, many new editions of the game have been released—including a family-friendly version—so there should be an option for everyone.
More involved birthday party games
13. Blind karaoke
This game is best played with access to YouTube (we recommend putting it up on the TV). Have the player sit with the screen behind them while someone else chooses an instrumental version of a song to play. The player needs to guess the song and sing along as best they can. There’s no set protocol for determining winners here—this game is more about enjoying the journey.
14. Scavenger hunt
It takes a bit more effort to put together, but a good scavenger hunt is always great fun. Your guests will need to follow clues that eventually lead them to an endpoint, and the first person or team to reach it wins. You could put these clues together yourself or book your guests in for a scavenger hunt that’s organised for you.
15. Heads Up
Is Heads Up one of the best guessing games out there? Possibly. You’ll need to download the Heads Up app to play. Once it’s up and running, have each player take it in turns to hold the phone up in front of their forehead, so they can’t see the screen. A word will pop up on the screen and the other guests have to provide clues on what the word is, without saying it directly. Once the player guesses it right they tilt the phone down and a new word pops up. The aim is to guess as many correct words as possible within one minute.
16. Birthday comedy roast
If you’re feeling brave, you could host a birthday comedy roast for yourself, where each of your guests take it in turns to gently rib you. Roasts are supposed to be funny, with the light teasing coming from a place of love.
17. Blindfolded drawing
Give your guests a blindfold, pencil and a paper. Say the name of something and have them all try their best to draw it. At the end of each round, the group can vote on which picture they like best, giving that person a point. You can carry on like this for as long as you want.
18. Lip sync battle
It’s like karaoke, only competitive and without the need for you to actually sing. Essentially, your guests (either alone or in teams) perform a lip sync to a song that the rest of the party judges against another performance. Usually, the winner is whoever gets the loudest claps and cheers.
19. Fashion show walk-off
Channel your inner Derek Zoolander and host a fashion show for your guests, where each take their turn to walk down the “runway” (be creative here: a corridor would work fine, for example). They’ll be judged for how fabulous their walk is. If you follow the rules set out in the film Zoolander, one person walks and the others have to copy what they do—whether that means dancing or striking a particular pose. Then you switch up who goes first. When people fail to recreate the moves, they’re out. But you could also just have a fun runway walk, where your other guests act as judges and give scores out of ten.
20. Murder in the dark
This is another children’s game that’s brilliant fun for adults, too. It’s best played in smaller groups, perhaps of up to 8 or 10 people—but there’s no set rules here so if you can make it work with more, go for it. You need a minimum of three, though.
To play the game, take an Ace and King card out of a deck, plus as many number cards as you need for everyone. Your guests are then dealt a card each that they need to keep secret: Ace is the murderer and King is the detective. Switch off the lights and have your guests move around. The murderer should try and “kill” as many people as possible by tapping them on the shoulder until the lights come on. Then, the detective has to guess who the murderer is.
21. Names in a hat
Have your guests write down the names of characters or famous people on small bits of paper that they then fold and put into a hat. Then split your guests into teams. Players take turns drawing a name and trying to describe who it is without using the name. If their team guesses correctly, they draw another name and try to get as many as correct guesses as possible within 60 seconds. In the next round, players have 90 seconds to silently “act out” the characters; in the final round (60 seconds), they can only use one word to describe them. The winning team has the most correct guesses.
22. Press conference
Send one person out from the room and have the rest of your guests decide which celebrity you want them to be when they come back. Then, invite them back and hold a “press conference”. Their task is to guess which celebrity they are based on the questions the other guests are asking them.
23. Taskmasker
If you aren’t familiar with the TV show, Taskmaster, let us fill you in: people complete often silly and random tasks to earn points (and for the audience’s amusement). You can come up with your own tasks for your guests or take inspiration from the show—for example, having people put something on their face that looks like a moustache from a distance or trying to blow out a candle from across the room.
24. Face the cookie
This game is extremely simple: each player places a cookie on their forehead and has to maneuver it into their mouth without using their hands. The first person to do so wins. You can also play it as a team where it’s kind of a relay race: after the first player has successfully placed their cookie into their mouth, the next person goes, and so on. If the cookie drops, you have to start again by playing a new cookie on your forehead.
25. Trivia
Why not host some trivia, pub-quiz style, that’s focused on you, some of your interests or perhaps even your guests? For example, you could host a music round where you play snippets of your favourite songs and your guests have to correctly guess what they are. Or have a lightning round where your guests have to quickly name your favourites: your favourite colour, TV show, pizza order, celebrity crush, etc.
Outdoor birthday party games
26. Bocce
You’ll need a bocce kit to play, as well as enough space to throw the balls around. This is a team game (with a maximum of eight people) where each player takes turns to throw their ball towards a target ball—known as a jack. You can throw the ball underarm or roll it along the ground. When all the throwing balls have been used, the team with the ball that’s closest to the jack wins.
27. Corn hole
Corn hole is another classic. Here, each team takes it in turns to throw a small beanbag into a hole on a board that’s set on an incline (formally known as a cornhole board), that’s some way away. Whoever gets the most bags into the hole wins.
28. Tug of war
For more adventurous parties, have a go at tug of war. It’s exactly how it sounds: two teams grab either side of a long, thick rope, and aim to pull the rope towards them. If your team pulls the rope a certain distance—usually, there will be some markers on the ground you’re trying to reach—they win. This is an ancient game that’s been played by various cultures over many different centuries. Fun fact: it even used to be an Olympic sport.
29. Kubb
Kubb is similar to bocce, only instead of balls you’re throwing small, lightweight wooden blocks. It goes like this: each team sets up a number of “guard” blocks (or kubbs) on their side of the playing field, with a “king” piece in the middle of the field between you. Teams then take it in turns to toss blocks from their side to try and knock over their opponent’s guards. Once all the guards are down, you can try and knock down the king—which wins you the game.
30. Capture the flag
In this team game, each side has to try to capture their opponent’s flag while protecting their own. Each team has a “base” and the aim is to try and sneak into the other team’s territory to steal the flag without being tagged. If you’re tagged, you’re sent to “jail” (you can’t participate in the game) and you have to wait there until another team member frees you. But if they get tagged in the process, they’ll find themselves in jail, too. You win if you capture the flag or if the entire other team is in jail.
31. Croquet
Croquet was once considered the stuff of aristocrats, but we’re here to remind you that this game is for everyone. After all, it’s been played in England since at least the 1850s. You’ll need a croquet kit but it’s really very simple to get started: you set hoops into the grass in a particular order and use a mallet to hit a ball through them. Once you’ve passed through them all in the right order, you win the game by hitting your ball against the centre peg.
Your birthday party venue
Now imagine your guests enjoying some brilliant games in a beautiful venue, that’s welcoming and comfortable.
That would be Kindred, a much-loved West London birthday party venue in the heart of Hammersmith. We’re just a few minutes’ walk from Hammersmith tube station.
We’re known for our unique interiors, which blend modern and heritage styles, as well as how easy we make the party planning process. Our friendly events team has decades of experience and will work with you to bring your dream birthday party to life.
Cellar, our Hammersmith restaurant and bar, will be at your disposal for food and drink. And did we mention that each floor of our building has a private bar? We also have full AV capabilities to host live music performers and DJs—or simply to blast out a playlist of your choice.
Have a look at our private hire brochure or take a virtual tour of our building to learn more about Kindred. You’re also most welcome to visit us in person to take a look at our space. Just get in touch with our team to arrange it.
